Let's Begin
by FangSnowLotus
Summary: Dirk Strider ends up in the world of Demigods. He is bestowed a quest older than most Greek gods and it is shared with a certain group of seven. I'm really bad at summaries, I do NOT own Percy Jackson and the Olympians nor do I own Homestuck. Rated T for swearing (although there is barely any), and fighting?
1. Let's Begin

7

A crossover fanfiction between Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Homestuck

Chapter 1: Off to Camp Half-Blood

"Well, this is awkward."

Dirk stood in the hall of thrones, men and women looked at him in a confused way. The male in the center of the room spoke first at the sight of the intruder. "What business do you have here?" he asked with a threatening snarl. Dirk shrugged, completely lost as to where 'here' was.

"No idea. Where am I?"

The lady with lots of makeup over flawless skin began to laugh. "You, ha-ha, don't even, ha, know where you are? Hahaha!"

The guy, who looked like a teen, stared nervously at the man in the middle, who was still gazing intensely into the boy.

When the pretty lady finally stopped laughing (she noticed no one else was making any noise) Dirk spoke up. "This might sound crazy, but I'm not from here, this planet, I mean, and I _need_ to get back to my friends, who are currently trapped in this game called Sburb." At the sound of that word, four of the group sort of jumped, glancing at each other with concern.

"Zeus…" the woman, next to the one she was addressing, said. "That game… this boy? Poor child!"

"Calm down, Hera." another man called from the other side of Zeus, although he looked worried as well.

Hera glanced at him, opened her quivering mouth to say something, but couldn't since she was struggling to find any words. To Hera's right, a female started to talk, opening her mouth as well. "Poseidon, this is _the_ game… surely you have not forgotten…"

The rest of the room focused their gaze of the four, looking back and forth between them for any more words.

"Dad? What's wrong with a _game_?" the teen asked Zeus.

"Yeah, and why're you all scared?" the tough looking guy coughed out a snicker.

"Apollo, Ares, this is no laughing matter. When our session was being played… it wasn't named Sburb, it took so much… are you saying that you're playing it _now_?"

Dirk nodded. "And I need to get back t-"

"How did you get here?" Hera sputtered.

A woman in battle armor called out to the remaining eight that were left out. "I suppose we will only be troublesome to this, um, conversation." She then faced Zeus and continued. "I will take my leave now and so will the rest of us." With those words, she stepped out, trailed by the seven, and they left the hall, some grumbling as they did so.

The four that stayed studied each other, as if silently conversing. "Demeter, tell Hermes to find Hestia and Hades. Tell him to bring them here immediately." Demeter obliged, walking out the door.

"Child." Hera called, "What… what is your title?"

Dirk faced her, the pointed shades concealing his eyes. "Prince of Heart."

"So, you are the Destroyer of Souls?" Poseidon interrogated. He nodded. Zeus put his hand on his head, sighing with distress. Hera's eyes widened, as if she discovered something important. "Wait, do you remember the prophecy?"

Poseidon inhaled and Zeus let his hand fall to his sides. "We shall discuss this when the other three get here." he murmured. "Hestia probably has the prophecy memorized word for word. Unless you two do." They shook their heads ad looked away, Hera at her toes and Poseidon at the ceiling.

Before too long, Hades, Hestia, and Demeter entered the room, Hermes waved his hand as he stood by the entrance, turning around to leave them be.

"Is it true?" Hades demanded. "This child is from Sburd?"

"Not the Sburd session. He is from a new one named Sburb." Hera corrected.

"Then it is true?" Hestia asked, covering her mouth with both hands in shock. "And what about the prophecy from so long ago?"

"We were hoping you would tell us what it was, we have forgotten the specific words." Zeus said, mounting his throne.

They kept discussing and Dirk sat down. He was starting to freak out, wondering what was happening on the other side at the moment. He clutched his head in his hands and continued to ponder what he could stop if he was with them. Almost instantly, he calmed himself down, not daring to let those feelings overwhelm him. They were fine, nothing bad was occurring, they were god tiers, everything will be fine.

He looked over at the conversing people and sighed, 'when is this going to be over?' he mused.

Dirk caught onto their words right as Hestia began reciting a poem:

"A hero of heart will arrive to bestow

The chance to destroy the cursed soul

Of one who will rise to seek revenge

To the fallen foe whose reign had end.

The victors that won in a previous game

Cannot take part in the glory or fame

Of the hero and the seven that will join him in

The quest to disperse darkness from within."

Hestia stopped, "I… don't think there was any more." Everyone turned to Dirk and finally asked him this question: "What is your name?" They all awaited his answer.

"Dirk Strider."

"Well, Dirk, I believe it is time for you to meet Camp Half-Blood." Hades said with a strained smile.

"Dirk, dear, go out and find Hermes, he'll take you there." Demeter suggested.

Hestia's hand shot up quickly. "I'll take him! I'm going there anyways." She ran towards him and pulled his arm. "Come on, let's go!"

The Prince stood to follow her, letting her lead him to the camp.

On the way out, Dirk got to see the splendors of Mount Olympus. Hestia beamed as she pointed out the buildings designed by one of the demigods he'd meet.

"Demigods? Like part-god?"

"Yes. They are our offspring, well, not mine since I'm a maiden goddess."

"Wait, you mean to say that all of you, that I accidentally walked in on, are gods and goddesses?"

"Mmhm. Ever heard of Greek mythology?"

"Not really, must've been lost when the batterwitch took over."

"Batter who?"

"Never mind."

As they walked on, nonstop, Hestia filled him in on the mythological stories that may help him in the near future:

"So, Atlas is stuck holding up the sky forever?"

"Yes."

"Kronos _ate_ his children? That's sick. I thought the batterwitch was bad."

"Yeah, it was really uncomfortable in his stomach."

"You've played a version of Sburb?"

"…Yes."

Hestia paused when they came across a metal door, the type for an elevator. She pressed a button and waited for it to slide open. "After you." Dirk gestured when it did. She just smiled and walked in, telling the manager of the elevator to take them to the ground floor. "Yes, ma'am." he said.

The transporter zoomed down, Dirk held tightly onto the bars while the goddess and the man seemed completely unaffected. Once the elevator reached floor 102, it slowed down to match the speed of a normal one. Dirk struggled to get on his feet, using the bar for the support it offers. "a little warning next time?" he complained, holding himself steady.

The girl grinned and held his hand as the door opened once more. "To Long Island we go." and sped up, breaking into a run, the boy stumbled after her, closely following her as she led on.

They traveled through the building, exiting its front entrance, and headed down the direction of Long Island. Strider was surprised to see so many people bustling about, the biggest group he'd ever seen consisted of his allies in the game. Traffic was not as bad as one would have thought, although, it was still present. The sun shone noon, or sometime afternoon, it didn't really matter. Streets poured with people as they were on their lunch break or on family vacation.

The Prince of Heart noted everything he saw, any and all worry he ever had faded away.

Wanting for a break in the silence, Hestia asked out loud: "Is there any question you have for me?"

Dirk shook his head any gazed at the looing buildings in awe. "Actually, Hestia?" he called after they turned a corner to continue for a few more blocks. "What was your title in Sburd?"

She kept walking, almost as if she was ignoring him, her lips pursed as she did so. "Sorry I asked." Dirk apologized.

Twelve minutes had passed until she answered his inquiry at last. "I was the Maid of Blood. I was the one that kept the team together. Now, I am the one that unites all families through the hearth." She caught a glimpse from Dirk and added, "I'd prefer not to talk of Sburd at the moment, I'm sorry. Please understand."

He nodded. They resumed their silence.

The absence of noise was filled in when they reached the doorsteps of an apartment building. Hestia buzzed the bell of one of the homes and together, they waited for a reply.

"Jackson residence. Paul Blofis speaking."

The Maid of Blood spoke into the speakers, "I would like to see Percy Jackson. Tell him Hestia is waiting for him."

"Is… is this someone from his _other_ side of the family?"

"Yes, it is."

"I'm getting him now. Come in." and the doors unlocked themselves.

"Thank you."

The inside of the Jacksons' apartment was blue. Not everything, but damn was there lots of blue. "Coming!" a voice shouted from the next room. A person in his late-teens popped his head out as he looked through the door.

"Hello goddess. What brings you here?" he smiled kindly at the sight of one of the only gods/goddesses that didn't require everything from him (besides his dad, but that was because they were related).

"Percy." she nodded her head to greet him. "I came to ask for a ride to camp."

"Sur-"

"-and you will need to come with us."

Percy's face darkened, "Oh… and when I thought all my troubles were finally over." He moved his focus from Hestia and looked at the guy next to her. "Hey, I'm Percy Jackson. Who are you?"

"Dirk Strider."

Percy looked back into his room with a sad and longing face. When he redirected his attention to the goddess of the hearth, he said, "Okay."

He took in a deep breath, "Mom!" he yelled.

"Yes dear?" she replied.

"I'm needed at Camp Half-Blood!"

Silence.

A woman came in from another door, her mouth shaped into a frown. "Fine." she said curtly. "Just don't die, alright?"

Percy chuckled, "Sure thing mom."

Dirk wished he had someone like that that he could relate to, to have a guardian by his side that was there for him. He looked at the ground as the demigod spoke again.

"My stepdad is driving though. He's going to want his car back after we arrive at camp."

Paul appeared and put his hand on Percy's shoulder. "Get ready, we'll leave in ten minutes." and he disappeared once again, in the direction Percy's mother went. "Sally, what are you doing?" they heard.

In the following seconds, Percy's mom, Sally, returned with a plate of blue cookies. "You guys really like this color." Dirk noted, holding one between his fingers.

Sally smirked, "I've been getting Percy to eat an all blue diet for a looooooooooong time."

"And yes, it is an awesome color." Percy butted in.

"So, what's your story? And why are you wearing sunglasses, we're inside."

"I'm not from around here and-"

"-we have a quest for him and the seven, you'll need to confront the oracle for more information." Hestia finished.

Percy groaned, "You have _got_ to be kidding, wait, never mind, I know the gods, they don't kid like this."

"Actually, the quest's prophecy is older than some gods, making it hard to remember, but it didn't mention anything about the end of the world, I think, and so it should be a simple quest. One that shouldn't last more than a few weeks. And secondly, um, why do you wear those weird eyepieces?" the goddess asked.

"Because they're cool." Dirk stated plainly.

"They look like the type you'd find in a Japanese anime. How cute." Sally commented.

Hestia picked up a cookie, sniffing it as though it was the strangest thing she had ever encountered. "How did you find the time to make these?"

"Oh, they were originally for Paul and Percy as snacks, they were to eat them tonight after dinner. But don't worry. I have enough batter to make another batch or so." She beamed. "Speaking of Paul, HONEY!? Aren't you supposed to heave by now? Lunch is almost over and with luck, you can get back by supper!"

"You… wouldn't happen to be using Betty Crocker cookie mix, would you?" Dirk talked out of nowhere.

"No, no. I made everything from scratch." Sally seemed proud.

"Okay, good."

"Are you allergic to it?"

"Hm? Oh, no it's not that. I don't really want to talk about it."

Paul bounced in and held up his keys. "Ok, everyone's good? Let's go!"

Dirk didn't really want to leave but he also wanted to see the camp everyone kept mentioning. He climbed into the car and sat in the back seat next to Hestia while Paul drove and Percy was in the passenger seat.

"Where are you from?" Percy pursued, disliking the silence that loomed over them.

"Another Earth, but in correspondence to here? Texas."

"You don't sound like a Texan, how was it there… wait, hold up a second, another Earth? What do you mean by that?"

Dirk shrugged, "An alternate universe is what I mean, a different reality."

"Cool."

"Not cool, it was lonely. Sure, I had friends and robots I could talk to, but… it was just… lonely."

Percy turned around and faced him, "Lonely? Since you didn't add family to that small list of acquaintances, I can only assume-"

"I had none. My ancestor died centuries ago."

"Ancestor? What about your immediate fam-?"

"Like I said, I had none. I'm also sort of from the future where the way people had to reproduce was through ecto-slime, the Batterwitch collected them from all the humans to make more, and people were killed if they had sex. We're all created after our predecessor dies, for me, it was centuries since mine was alive, and they did that to cover up family ties. They didn't want us to find out who we were related to. After some time, the stupid Batterwitch melted the ice caps, all of them, causing the world to flood and the human population died out. The only ones left were Roxy and me. We had to struggle for survival, Roxy had pumpkins and neighbors to take care of, neighbors weren't human, and I had to fight drones all the time. And all this happened and that was _before_ the game started."

"Game?" Percy caught up. "Damn, your past is so messed up… sorry about that."

"Eh, you'd get used to it. I think I'm one of the lucky ones to not lose so much, since I started out with a little less."

"One of the lucky ones? There were people from other worlds that played with you?"

"Yeah."

"Who else played the game?"

"Jane Crocker and Jake English, from the same world, but they were four centuries in the past… or Roxy and I were four centuries in the future."

"Could you two, perhaps, not talk about this now? It is very disheartening." Hestia pleaded.

The two boys nodded synchronically and remained quiet, Percy faced the front once more.

The rest of the ride was still, the past of the mysterious kid became a taboo in front of the goddess, who didn't seem to want to know of the doomed Earth. Hours passed until they reached the entrance of the camp. Dirk didn't see what was so special about it.

"Bye Percy, see you next time." Paul waved a goodbye and drove off, back to the city.

"That was very weird. I have never had a ride when I wasn't attacked by some monsters. We have a demigod, a goddess, and a... um. What are you exactly?"

"I guess I could be considered a god, I did reach god tier and all… I don't really know."

Percy squinted his eyes and leaned back, "You're a god? What else do I need to know?"

The maid of blood tapped her foot impatiently. "Shall we?"

"Right, right." and he led them off the road.

A gate stood tall with a tree that accompanied it. The tree had a yellow animal rug and a dragon guarded it, it was currently sleeping. "What's that for?" he asked, referring to the rug.

"The Golden Fleece? It's magical and it keeps out monsters and normal humans." Jackson said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

He and Hestia crossed the gate, Dirk stood outside of it uncertainly. It was as though some invisible force was trying to keep him out, that or it wanted to bounce on him like an excited puppy. "Is something wrong?" Hestia stopped moving. "Can you see us?"

Slowly, Strider found the strength to move on, not like there was anything that really held him back. One foot, then the next. He made it. He is now at Camp Half-Blood.


	2. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood

Chapter 2: Welcome to Camp

"Come with me, I'll give you a tour." Percy said, walking down to the volleyball court. "Past that is the arts and crafts center and the cabins are over there, that's where we sleep. Oh, yeah! Today is Thursday so we'll have Capture the Flag tomorrow. It is like the regular version, where the cabins get split into teams, plus weapons."

"Cool, I'll beat you."

"Hah, you wish."

The tour was cut short by the arrival of a blond girl, grey eyes lit brightly at the son of Poseidon. "Hey, glad you could come." she smiled and hugged him.

Dirk looked to his right, expecting to see Hestia. Instead, she had vanished. "Where did the goddess go?" he caught their attention.

"Hello, you must be new." the blondie stuck out her hand. "I'm Annabeth. I can see you've already met my boyfriend." she pushed Percy a little.

The new kid took her hand and shook it, "I'm Dirk."

"Like the Celtic dagger." Annabeth added. "That's cool. I like your glasses, by the way."

"He's not exactly a demigod." Percy said to the girl. "He's a _god_."

Annabeth's eyes widened, she stared intensely at Dirk. "You're a what now? You better not be joking seaweed brain." she snapped.

"Why would I, wise girl? He really is."

The subject of the conversation strolled down towards the cabins, intending for the two bickering behind him to follow.

"-right Dirk?" Percy asked.

"Hm? Right, yeah."

"See? Told you."

"How do I know you didn't make him say that? Plus, he seemed distracted!" Annabeth shouted, getting frustrated.

"But, I am telling you the truth!" Percy countered with the same amount of volume.

"What is he the god of then?"

"I don't know, ask him!"

"Would you two shut the fuck up? Yes, I'm a god, kind of, so could you just be quiet!" Dirk let out louder than he wanted, which earned him looks, not just from the two, but also from those around them.

"Well? What are you the god of?" Annabeth ventured.

"My actual title is the Prince of Heart. And before you even think it, no, heart does not mean love. In my case, it can be interchangeable with soul." Annabeth looked lost, Percy was too, only more. "And prince is a god tier class."

"That's new. Again." Jackson grumbled.

"Oh." Chase ceased.

They got their way down to the sleep area, where they were greeted by Hazel and Nico, the two children of death itself.

"Hey guys." Hazel greeted. "What's up? Who's this?"

"Dirk." he replied, crossing his arms.

"Are you supposed to be dead?" Nico asked, his sunken eyes glared at him. "I think that you're supposed to be dead."

"No, I'm not dead. Died, but not dead."

Annabeth whispered to Hazel, "Wow, he got the emo to talk, impressive."

"Should I send you back to the Underworld?" Nico asked, threatening to use his creepy dead skeletons at any moment.

"If you can." Dirk smiled, getting into a defensive stance, the sound of something lethal crawled out his words.

"Okay, before you go all killing on each other, why don't you two _meet_ first?" Percy laughed tensely, holding up his hands. "Nico, meet Dirk, he's from another world. Dirk, meet Nico, he's the son of Hades."

"Hades is the god of the Underworld, right?" Strider's body relaxed a little. "I met the guy, up in the Empire State Building. Come to mention it, you _do_ remind me of him."

"He was in Olympus? How did he get there?" Hazel jumped.

"I don't know! Ask him yourself!" Percy threw his arms up.

"One minute, I was on my way to, I don't actually know, I was flying back to my friends, since a doggy version of Jake's kid grandma teleported me somewhere really far. The next minute, I was in a hall that led to a throne room. I really don't know why, but it happened." Dirk stated irritably. "Anything _else_ you want to ask me?"

"How did you die?" "How are you alive?" "How were you flying?" "Why do you wear those stupid glasses?" "You said you were a god." "He did?" "What-?"

"One at a time!" Dirk shouted. Man, this was so uncool of him.

"Ok, I was on Derse, a place in the game for my dream self, and it was blown up, by the Condesce? I was on my quest bed at the time so I was able to ascend to god tier, keeping me alive, that answers two questions. After ascending to god tier, I was able to fly, and these glasses _aren't_ stupid. They're awesome." he stated, returning to his usual listless tone.

This just roused more queries. Did he _really_ have to deal with this?

"Could we cut the questions, please?"

Wonderful, two more demigods showed up, they must also want tons of interrogations. One of them had blond hair, not like Dirk's which was light to the point that it looked like corn silk, it was a more vivid color. He had glasses over blue eyes and a small cut on his lip. Can you guess who it is? The other was a Cherokee that looked rather beautiful, her dark brown hair flowed onto her shoulders. Guessed yet?

"Hello Grace." Percy nodded at the blond.

"Percy, why do you feel the need to call me by my last name?"

"Why not?"

"Who's this?" the Cherokee asked, straight to the point. "My name is Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, that's Jason, son of Jupiter." Jason waved.

"The planet Jupiter?" Dirk questioned the logic, making Jason laugh. "No, Jupiter is the name of the Roman personnel of Zeus. The planet was named after him."

And for the [how many times he introduced himself], he introduced himself again. Then recapped as much as he could about his session in Sburb to everyone. There better not be any more questions.

-Minutes into the future, but not many-

"I'm not going to repeat it all." Dirk deadpanned.

"You might have to, you have to tell Chiron." Piper looked away. "He's at the Big House, I can take you if you want."

"No, I'm fine, how hard is it to spot a 'Big House'? Plus, I passed it not long ago." he sped off as soon as he finished saying that in order to avoid more words. They were starting to get on his nerves. But of course, he couldn't get rid of all of them. One of the godlings flew behind him, he really didn't want to relay to him. He moved faster, faster, and disappeared into a blur, leaving Jason struggling to catch up. "Wait!" he called. Too late.

If Hestia had not told him that Chiron was a centaur, Dirk would have probably cut off one of his legs in surprise, otherwise, the man was a super cool dude. "Is there a reason for your arrival?" he asked unconcerned.

"He's the kid I was talking about. Mentioned something and Zeus, Demeter, Hera, and Poseidon freaked out." the somewhat chubby, black haired, Hawaiian shirt wearing man said in between his drink.

"You are Dionysus, god of wine." Dirk settled.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Chiron examined him, scratching his beard. "Where are you from?" The boy mentally groaned. He began to explain once again to the two men as Jason arrived. "Gods, you are fast."

"Interesting." Chiron said a couple of times, while Dionysus, on the other hand, yelled "Baloney!" It was six o'clock when they finished their discussion. "Just in time for dinner." Jason had said. They headed to the mess hall as the trainer of heroes and the god of wine discussed.

"Where are you going to sleep? You are a god after all." Jason enquired. "Are you on good terms with my dad?"

"I think so. I don't know where I'll sleep." Dirk replied.

"You could come to my cabin, it would be nice to be able to have someone with me during meals. I'm the only offspring of Zeus, or Jupiter, as of now… minus my sister, but she became a hunter so, yeah."

"Zeus and Poseidon are natural rivals, right?"

"Yes, but Percy and I aren't that-"

"Sure."

The two sat down at the Zeus table when they arrived at the dining pavilion. Jason received a plateful of food, which consisted of barbeque, bread, and strawberries. He suggested Dirk to do so as well. Then everyone stood up and circled the large bonfire, muttering something then throwing a bit of their food into the fire. Confused by all of this, Dirk stood to join them, slowly inching towards the center.

"Hestia?" Dirk asked, seeing her tending the hearth as no one noticed her. She held up a finger to her lips and resumed poking the fire.

The person in front of him said "Hermes" before tossing an apple and some of his portion of meat. So, they were saying the names of gods. It was his turn next and he edged the brazier. He eyed the goddess and flung his fruits and some of his bread into it. "Hestia." he said.

When he returned to the table where Jason sat, eating, the demigod perked up. "I forgot that you aren't an offspring of a god, so, who did you send your offering to?"

"Hestia, since she was sitting right there." he looked into his goblet. "How do I get a drink again?"

"Say whatever drink you want into it and it'll fill with said drink." Jason replied, holding up his own. "Here, I'll show you. Hot chocolate." The chalice served a rich brown drink that let vapor steam from it.

"Orange soda." Dirk told the enchanted mug. His cup became occupied by an orange liquid that sizzled with carbon dioxide. "Cool."

The pavilion was lively as the groups of children laughed and joked. Apparently, the Hermes cabin's head campers played a trick on the Ares cabin's occupants. The goblets sprayed juice and drinks all over the place, refusing to stop hosing out cider and more, causing the Stoll brothers to gain an enemy, or regain them. "CONNOR! TRAVIS! YOU WILL PAY!" Clarisse, the former head, fluttered her fist. Laughter arose everywhere, the smiles of the other demigods taunted the twins to plan for more pranks.

Seven o'clock came and the crowd of campers dispersed into their next activity. Dirk followed Jason into the arena, having nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. It took Grace until they arrived at the stadium to remember Dirk had followed him. "How are you with weapons? We should go to the armory to get you something."

"That's fine, I already have a sword." Dirk said, reaching into his captchalogue card for his katana. To Jason, the blade appeared out of thin air. "Woah." he fumbled. "What in the world?"

"You like it?" the boy asked. Jason shook his head, he wasn't impressed by the sword itself, what a shame. "How did you get it? It just popped up."

"Wait, you don't have a fetch modus?"

"No, what's a fetch modus?"

"You don't? Huh, your Earth is weird and so limited, you wouldn't believe."

"Uh-huh." Jason nodded suspiciously. "Alright then, we can skip straight to sparring." He pulled out his gladius, the one Juno gave him, and got in a fighting stance, his left arm and leg facing his opponent as his right arm was raised with the sword. Dirk mirrored him, standing in a lowered position.

For a tense second, they waited. Dirk dashed at his competitor, who parried him with his own sword. "You're strong." he commented. Dirk nodded thanks and they pulled away from each other. Next time, it was Jason who rushed at him, pointing his gladius at Strider to stab him. Dirk sidestepped and let their swords meet, the child of Jupiter's slid off the destroyer of souls'.

"You're going to have to try harder if you want to beat me." the latter teased, holding the Japanese weapon loosely in his hand. Their swords clashed and blocked each other's, tempted to cut someone. "Get faster." Dirk said, ducking when Jason swung for his head.

The pale boy picked up his speed, becoming a streak, and closed around his sparring partner for an opening. Every time he struck, his katana was deflected. The problem was that Jason was getting tired, if ever so slightly. His breathing became heavier and his actions were lagging.

This allowed Dirk the opportunity to deal an attack with full effort. He stopped in one spot and leaned back, charging his energy and plunged forward. Jason held up his blade to block, successfully, so he was unscathed, but the force of his rival knocked him onto the ground. Before he could get up, his eyes met the katana, just a few inches from his face.

"You win." Jason panted, "You are good."

"I've had loads of practice." Dirk responded, taking in a breath. "Thank you."

The white kid held out his hand, providing support. The one who was offered the help took it, allowing himself to be pulled up by the former. "It's still 7:15, do you want to go another round?"

"Are you sure you want to? You don't want a break?" Dirk asked incredulously.

"No, I'm fine. Let's begin."

The two took their offensive postures, holding their swords in ready position. Something similar happened the second time, they parried for a while until Dirk got the upper hand. He struck Jason's hand with the butt of his sword, disarming him.

"Again." he said, retrieving his weapon and facing the katana-wielder.

This time, Dirk was caught off guard, he barely had time to process, much less raise his sword, when Jason charged. He stumbled backwards and lost his balance, his attacker only needed another strike or two in his direction to make him lose his footing completely. Jason won.

"If that's how you want to play it, I won't hold back." Dirk smiled, getting up. "Ready?"

They fought one last time. He wasn't kidding when he said that he wouldn't hold back. The way Dirk swung made it seem as though he wanted to kill his opponent. Jason struggled with the multitude of attacks, he just remembered how fast he was when running towards the Big House and how he wasn't going as quick in their first cycle. He sure was now.

Jason winced when he couldn't block Dirk's sword, it briefly stuck itself in his left arm when it was pulled back. He started to worry when his weapon next rebounded Dirk's, his own shook violently. This fight was much shorter than the others, yet it held a lot of incredible aggressions, more than the time would have normally permitted.

"Ugh." Jason grimaced at his cut. "Were you just playing with me the first two times?"

Dirk didn't answer. What was he going to say? If he said yes, it'll make his new friend feel terrible, if he said no, he'd be lying. "I'm… going to take a look around. See you soon." he ended up saying, anxious to leave.

"Okay then, later." Jason sighed sadly. He needs to get stronger and faster. Jason watched as Dirk ran off. He sheathed his sword and headed to the Apollo cabin, hoping for his arm to be treated.

Once he got there, one of the children of the sun god bandaged his injury. "Thanks." he said in between bits of ambrosia. It had started to taste a little bit more like a type of food, since before, it was a tasteless ash-like substance. His cut didn't hurt as much, it was already healing. Before long, the bleeding stopped.

"It's 8:52 now, should we go to the campfire?" a girl asked, standing next to the door. "I wonder what song we'll sing this time."

"Okay, hold on, we can go when we are done sorting out all the medicines." Will Solace assured. "Can't take much longer than two minutes."

Jason took that time to leave, heading down to the sing-a-long spot where the Apollo cabin would lead them in songs. There was already people there, Percy and Annabeth among them.

"Did you know that your new friend is _fast_? Like, _extraordinarily_ fast?" he asked the duo.

"No." Annabeth said, unfazed.

"You guys will totally lose tomorrow in Capture the Flag."

"He's on _your_ team? Since when?" the child of the sea god speculated.

"Since he joined _my_ cabin." Jason bragged.

"Are you absolutely _sure_ that your dad won't blast him to pieces?"

" _Yes_."

"He's _really_ going to play against us?"

" _Yes._ "

" _Did you force him to?_ "

" _NO!_ "

" _Why are you guys talking like this?_ " Annabeth interjected.

"No idea. Anyways, I just sparred with him, he's like a freaking ninja or something. Good luck tomorrow."

"You'll need it more. After all, who has been losing the entire summer?" Annabeth quipped.

"Your streak of winning will be over!" Leo jumped in. "Cause the Leo-man has invented something for the game."

"Oh?" Percy gambled.

"Yeah, and I ain't telling 'cause it's a secret." he taunted, putting a finger to his lips.

Jason and Leo left the two and started to get to their seats, Cabin 7 making their way towards them.

-Be Dirk-

"Why are we here?" Dirk asked, scanning the area. The big Chinese Canadian guy looked down at him, which made him slightly uncomfortable. Another set of kids arrived, smiling and holding instruments. "Are we singing?" The big guy nodded.

"Everyone, settle down. I know you're all excited, but quiet a little!" a blond boy shouted over the crowd. He then took out a guitar and sat down, smiling at a girl next to him and nodding his head. She shadowed his beat and tapped on her drum. The players behind them followed suite, playing lyres, harps, and other Greek instruments. The boy with the guitar started singing, the crowd sang along. Dirk didn't understand that much of the song, but the audible part was:

 _Mother Earth, once beautiful, still to all of the world but those who have seen_

 _Mother Earth's wrath, burning through her heart, her heart that was once stone._

 _Heroes have come, some have fallen, but it doesn't matter anymore._

 _We can only move forward._

 _Guide us through the day, take away the pain,_

 _Let us know that we are not alone._

Some of the campers around him had lost their will to sing. Some cried at the song, covering their mouths and shed tears in silence. The song didn't seem that sad to Dirk, but then again, he had no idea what half of it meant. During the parts that were baffling, the guy next to him stops singing, looking slightly upset that he was left out, he didn't seem to understand it either.

 _Take us under your wings, lend us your wisdom, help us deal with what had come and what lies beyond._

The music ceased and confusion roused among the demigods. They probably never sang a song like that before, bet they sung upbeat lyrics until then. Chiron appeared, along with Dionysus and a red-head. They made their way to the center and the horse man rose his hand for attention. "I would like to introduce a new camper from among us." he started. He then scanned the heads for the one he sought, ending at his target after half a circle of turning. "Dirk Strider, would you please stand up." he called.

The Chinese person beside the topic nudged him a little, "I think he means you." Yes, Dirk knew fully who the centaur meant. He got to his feet, wearing his usual expression, which would be none.

"Everyone, welcome the newest god among us." Dionysus muttered in a lax tone, bringing his hand together in mock appreciation. The people around them looked nervously at one another, clapping slowly. The young god sat down immediately, a frown now imprinted on his face. This was going to be a long day, or week, however long he'd stay here.


	3. What to Do?

Chapter 3: What to Do?

If it could get any worse, it did. After people decided to calm down, the red-head spouted out random things:

 _Travel South and there, you will face_

 _An enemy that is beyond every race._

 _Wait for the void to arrive_

 _And the wind who will come with grace._

 _Minds be opened to fire_

 _Just or heroic might not be desired_

 _Succeeding past the victory_

 _May result in failing miserably._

Everything went quiet. "What was that?" Dirk asked, full of curiosity, not entirely sure if he even wanted to know. "What does it mean when succeeding, you'd fail?" No one answered him, not even the horse man.

"That was a prophecy, Rachel there is the Oracle of Delphi. It seems like you are going to be sent on a quest." the guy next to him whispered. The so called 'Rachel' looked completely lost, it didn't appear like she knew she would say something like that. "Dirk, do you remember the one the gods said about you? Something about the seven?" Chiron called, the guy perked up.

"If I remember it correctly, it was:

A hero of heart will arrive to bestow

The chance to destroy the cursed soul

Of one who will rise to seek revenge

To the fallen foe whose reign had end.

The victors that won in a previous game

Cannot take part in the glory or fame

Of the hero and the seven that will join him in

The quest to disperse darkness from within."

People muttered, trying to put two and two together. Dirk knew the 'hero of heart', 'victors that won a previous game', 'just or heroic', and 'wait for the void to arrive' part, maybe, but the rest was so unclear. "I guess I'm coming on that quest too." Dirk looked at him. "I'm one of the seven from the previous quest, my name is Frank Zhang."

"The eight of you, you know who you are, can stay to discuss, the rest should go to their cabins to sleep. Good night."

Dirk knew the majority of those that remained, there was only one he hadn't met. They all sat uncomfortably there, wanting to join the others in the safety of their cabins, but alas, it was not to be. The Mexican kid fidgeted with something in between his fingers, his eyes in strange concentration at the item he was constructing. The silence was starting to get annoying, and since no one else was speaking, the white-blond haired boy figured he'd take matters into his own hands.

"There is a limited amount that I know of from both prophecies." They all looked at him, half of them seemed dreary. "From the one recently given, the 'void' may have been referring to my friend, whose title is the Rogue of Void." Hopefully, this is how prophecies work. "Then there is the just and heroic part, which is how a god tier in Sburb dies for good, if their death is considered either just or heroic." He caught everyone's attention, they stared at him in unbelieving expressions, Dirk just continued. "In the one your gods gave, I'm guessing that I'm the hero of heart, since my title is the Prince of Heart." A snicker was passed around, it did sound incredibly frou-frou. "And the victors of a previous game would be the six original gods and goddesses: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. If there is anything you know of for the rest of the prophecies, do share."

Frank looked around the group and slowly found words. "The part where it said 'the wind who will come with grace' is probably Jason, since he has wind powers and his last name-"

"-is Grace." Jason finished, Dirk nodded.

"How about the enemy beyond every race. Would it be, like, before the Titans and Giants and stuff? What's before all that?" the yet to be named boy asked.

To this, Annabeth scratched her head. "Maybe… just a thought, an essence like Gaea or Uranus. Do you think it could be Tartarus?" Dark stares were now accompanied with grave comprehension. "I really hope that it will just turn out to be 'just a thought'."

Hazel opened her mouth, but before anything had the chance to come out, Percy interrupted. "It might be, since it would make sense to the 'revenge for a fallen foe' thing."

"And I don't know if I like the sound of 'minds be opened to fire' or whatever that was. I don't think I want to die again."

"I sincerely hope not, can't imagine losing you yet another time Leo." Hazel smiled in a loving way that joked 'I will personally go to hell to bring you out.' Leo gave a goofy grin, "Without me, no one would be able to lighten up the group when times get too serious."

"The 'fallen foe' would be Gaea then, right? Or Cronus? Both were recently defeated, so someone out for revenge, or plotting it, have the right timing. What do you guys think?" Piper looked around her comrades, feeling dread materializing. "Tartarus makes sense."

"What happened with Gaea and Cronus? I thought Earth mom was sleeping and child-eating time lord was cut into tiny pieces." Dirk wondered, clearly his informer hadn't been able to bring up the most recent 'little' details.

Percy started, speaking relatively fast, "Okay, so first, the 'child-eating time lord' came back for a little bit and caused a war about two years ago. A lot happened, including the years prior to that which helped prepare us, or Camp Half Blood and its campers then, for it. I got special treatment which included a special lightning bolt, mazes, titans, New York, and a sea of monsters, not in that order. Cronus was beaten by his own trusted servant too, there was a moment, I really hated him for trying to kill me." ("He was a friend…" Annabeth said in a whisper.)

Jason continued for him. "Gaea was about last year and that involved traveling to Greece and back. Percy and Annabeth were trapped in Tartarus, and they survived, Hazel learned how to manipulate the Mist, Frank was able to turn into animals, Percy almost drowned, ("Hey! You almost did too!") Piper could tell you to kill yourself and you would, and Leo died. Gaea was defeated by Leo."

The boy beamed with pride, "And the evil reign of Dirt Face is over."

"Wow, I didn't know we could relate on such topics of revival." The group smiled, Leo and Percy laughed, Annabeth sighed and leaned on her soulmate. Piper twirled the end of her hair, inspecting it with the dullest of interest. Frank twitched and glanced at Hazel every now and then, finally getting up to sit next to her with a push from Dirk.

They were quiet the rest of the time, wondering what else they could add onto the list of facts, or what they hoped to be facts, so they would have a better picture of what they were up against. After all, this quest required eight people, not three, so that is one powerful enemy.

"Err… I guess that's it then." Leo said, standing. "Big day tomorrow and all, time to get some rest." he twirled on his heels and marched away, the others followed.

The eight said their good nights and went in separate directions to their assigned cabins, some traveled in pairs, dropped off their partners, and made their way to their own. Jason and Dirk were staying at Cabin 1, the large white marble one that was dedicated to Zeus. The resident of the shelter opened the bronze doors that greeted them and stepped inside, moving over to his side of the room where a corner hosted his little number of belongings.

Gingerly, the guest came in, half expecting to be blasted by a bolt of lightning (he jumped when the doors streaked with an effect of bolts and the inside of the building thundered). When it didn't come, he closed the doors and picked the closest bed to him to sleep on. The statue that stared at him didn't help comfort anyone, it looked down with what Dirk could swear was a disapproving look, but he didn't mind it that much. The boy fell face first onto the comfy sheets and gave a 'full'-hearted hug, oh how much he missed the feeling of a soft bed that was not a certain slab of stone. He rolled over so he was laying on his back, his nose faced the ceiling.

"Good night." Jason said, taking off his glasses and setting them on the floor next to him.

"Good night." Dirk echoed, repeating what his sparky friend did with his own eyepiece. The ceiling had cloud designs and thunderbolts, they are now so overrated, overexaggerated. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself drift to sleep. Who knows? He might be able to wake up where he had left off on the other side, he hoped so.

Turns out, it was not meant to be, never had he had a night where he was not awake in some way. The teen slept soundly, not a single event came that roused him. When his eyes opened, light was already filling the camp, the sun hiding with its head barely above the horizon. It was as if only seconds had passed since last night, when in reality, 'last night' was several hours ago.

"Morning." Jason said, picking up a shirt that littered the floor. "Had a good sleep?"

"The shortest I have ever experienced."

Breakfast was served in a similar fashion to dinner. Magically appear some food, line up to throw food in the fire, and sit in designated seats. The day passed pretty quickly, there was training with swords and shields with the Ares cabin (which Dirk rocked at), archery with Chiron and some Apollo kids (it was alright), and pegasus riding (that didn't go so well, Dirk would much rather prefer sticking to either his hoverboard or flying on his own accord).

Clarisse took half the time to demonstrate the best course of actions in a fight and the rest of the time, allowed Cabin five the area to practice. She trained with Dirk, who was enthusiastic to find her having the ability to block his attacks, although, she was slow and couldn't do much to him but defend. An hour passed, the next activities took over.

Archery was hard, it is hard for anyone with zero experience and off aim or balance of the bow. He could pull the string back to his face, further back if he wanted to, and it would strain by the force of the pull. When Dirk let go of the arrow, it shot over the target by a little bit. He tried again and made it on the outer white ring. With more practice, he might be able to get bullseyes. "Not bad." was all Chiron told him as the arrow pierced through the canvas of the mark.

"Left! No, left!" a Demeter girl shouted to his pegasus, who stubbornly veered to the right. "Shi-t!" they could hear the rider curse as his steed plunged into a nose dive. Nope, no, there was no _way_ this horse was sane. It entered the canopy of trees and Dirk jumped off, not letting himself get pulled by the stallion into the ground that was arriving at 100 mph with the acceleration of 40 m/s^2. He landed on a tree branch as the creature soared up once more, whinnying with horse laughter.

They are no longer great, even if they do remind him of a certain blue pegasus with a rough rainbow colored mane.

Lunch came in the middle of the session of flying horses, much to the teen's comfort, and he happily left the stallion, not intending to come back to it for another go. Monster assault techniques were taught by the Hermes cabin, Dirk joined, but left quickly when he noticed the stares in his direction. This had happened during the more active activities, but because those required full attention on something, he was able to handle the occasional glances, just not when an entire class turn their heads in complete unison at him.

After, a canoe fiasco (which started with a dry Dirk and a happy Naiad and ended with a wet Dirk, an infuriated Naiad, and some kids who tossed wads of paper into the lake) he decided to try out the lava spewing climbing wall. Satyrs cheered from the side as climbers narrowly missed the molten rock or succeeded in escaping it completely. The wall looked intimidating from the ground, even more so once you notice the tips of climbers' shirts seared by fire.

It looked fun enough, the danger called to Dirk, pulling him in. He held the ledges and heaved himself up, placing a foot in a hole and keeping him steady. His ascension was not as fast as he would have wanted, since a splash of lava missed his torso by three inches. It gradually got harder and harder, the heated wall threatening to drop the pale sixteen-year-old off its face, he kept climbing. Finally reaching the top, the ejecting of hot liquid ceased and it granted a safe passage back down.

The rest of camp presented many other pass times, such as swimming down at the Fireworks Beach, volleyball with mixed cabin members, and making bronze inventions with the Hephaestus kids.

Dinner was festive, no festival took place though, and everyone chattered with enthusiasm. Capture the Flag was held after supper, of course they were excited, Dirk was too. The entire time, things felt rushed, even the Hypnos offspring were more awake than usual, or awake in general.

Piper met with Strider on their way to the cabins, happy to give her two cents on the game. "The rules will be announced at the start by Chiron, so I'll just tell you our biggest threats. Percy, being the son of Poseidon, is strengthened if he touches the water, Annabeth has a cap that can make her invisible, watch out for that. Hazel can control precious metals, Frank can turn into any animal he wants, the Demeter and Dionysus kids will probably thicken the trees and plants, and Nico, if he feels like it, will unleash a skeleton army." Prior to all this mythological bull, he would have thought she was joking, but since he was in a Greek summer camp that had magical children with rainbows, sleep, and other nonsense powers, he figured that she was serious.

Dirk quickly went through the cabins he was to join. They were Zeus, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Iris, Hypnos, Hecate, Hebe, and Nemesis. 'Why are there so many gods beginning with H?' he pondered, it didn't really matter, so it didn't take too long.

He arrived at the creek, which acted as the guide line, and joined the developing crowd. Dirk examined the area, forest on one side, forest on the other, this was beautiful. "BOO!" Leo shouted from behind, pushing the teen forward for an additional effect. What was funny was that he reacted by whipping around and swinging his arm inwards in a defensive motion, hitting Mr. Valdez on the side of his head.

"Hey- Ouch! Dude, Chill!" he rubbed his cheek, "Man, if I knew you were going to _hit_ me, I wouldn't have done that. I'm on _your_ side, I'm not a blue team spy."

Dirk nodded sheepishly and looked away, "You people would go as far as to spy on another team?"

Leo sniggered, "Yeah, when you're out there, it is _war_!" he pumped his fists up. "Are you nervous, mister almighty?" he stuck out his elbow.

"No." he replied, then frowned. "Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"Because… I don't know, just don't."

"Whatever you say, god of heart."

"That isn't much better."

"Well, then, what do I call you? Love lord?" Leo suggested, looking as sincere as he can.

"Hell no! Heart does not mean love, ugh." He gagged. "If anything, something related to soul, or the essence of being. No, don't even. Just call me Dirk, don't refer to me as anything but Dirk, and don't say something like lord Dirk, or Dirk god."

The Mexican nodded in mock understanding, though he was still planning on calling him Strider king or perhaps even spirit majesty. "Okay, so _Dirk_ , gods you can get so distracting, I have to go check on our secret weapon. It is soooo secret, I cannot trust my own teammates with its identity, at least, for a few more minutes. Anyways, ciao." he slowly walked away and talked to himself, "Wow." he touched his cheek again, "Still hurts."

Chiron arrived and the crowd thickened, all the able campers were among them, ready to play. The centaur spoke with a defined voice, "For tonight's game, the blue team will be led by Annabeth from cabin six, who has allied with cabins three, four, five, seven, twelve, thirteen, and nineteen. The red team will be led by Jason from cabin one, who is partnered with cabins nine, ten, eleven, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, eighteen, and twenty. Cabin six, Athena, is the current champion."

"Not for long." Dirk whispered.

"You know the rules: the creek is the boundary line and you may use the entire forest. Magic items are allowed. Two guards per team, whom cannot be within a ten meters proximity when guarding it. Lastly, killing or maiming is prohibited, you will be punished if you commit it." He paused, his eyes glistened with interest. "The games begin…. now."


	4. Capture the Flag

Chapter 4: Capture the Flag

Everyone ran into their places, carefully avoiding the opposing team. Dirk looked around for Jason, realizing that he did not give him a position, was he allowed to do whatever he wanted?

"Hey, new god kid guy!" Dirk spun around, facing the Stoll twins. "You have a weapon?" Connor asked, no that was Travis… he couldn't tell the difference just yet.

"Yeah." he held up his katana, the brothers looked at it with eyebrows raised. "This is allowed, right?"

One of the two nodded. "Anything is allowed, except killing and maiming." he said with a defeated look.

"I heard." Dirk responded.

"Now we will be going, havoc to wreak after all." They turned and left.

Dirk walked along the creek, patrolling to make sure no one crossed. Thing is, the creek stretched longer than he could guard, so the efficiency was terrible. He could be at the middle and people would be moving back and forth at the ends. He had just seen a glimpse of a blue member dashing back to their side without a flag, which was bad, what if they had gotten it? A good few minutes passed before anything interesting happened, he was pulled away from the water by the sound of a gunshot and screams. Dirk ran into the forest on his side of game and headed for the noise.

To his surprise, a huge dragon made of metal smirked in front of him, fire slipping out of its mouth. It was wearing a large cannon and catapults surrounded it. "Hey!" Leo called, waving his arm high. Dirk ran over to him, eyeing the dragon wearily. "Like it?"

The gold creature tilted its head and hopped, happy to be part of the game. "His name if Festus, I got Chiron to allow him to play. Those-" he pointed at the weaponry around it, "-are his play things." He coughed back a laugh as a blue member came into the area, looked up at the beast, and run back in the direction they came from. "I'm glad to see it's working." He grinned.

"We should hang out more, you could teach me how to make a robot like that." Dirk said. "Must've took a long time."

Leo shook his head, "I didn't make him, just fixed him up a bit. But if you like robots, we're already best friends." To this, Dirk smiled.

He left the fire boy's company and went back to the creek. He looked across and grumbled to himself. "May as well, I have nothing else to do." Backing up, he leapt over the small creek, not wanting his shoes to get wet, soaked socks are the worst.

He landed with a grunt and took off running. The further he went, the better chance of people spotting him. Dirk slowed his pace and studied his surroundings, careful not to get caught. It was surprising how not many were around. 'Not well patrolled.' Dirk mused. He thought too soon. Swiftly, he made his way up a tree, narrowly escaping.

"They just got Jason, he barely even got to the flag this time." some guy gloated.

A girl sighed exasperatedly, "Yeah, I know, we were all there."

"There's no way they'll win, even with that new kid."

The group left, laughing at their victory that was so close, they could reach it. Dirk lowered himself and kept an eye out in their direction, almost daring them to come back. He followed their trail to trace where they had been, to get Jason freed and all.

The rustles in the trees beside him made him paranoid, it was only a game though, why was he so uptight? He chided himself and strode forward, ignoring the faint movements of the leaves. Soon enough, he approached a clearing, however small it was. He stayed within the shadows and peered at the people.

"We still have a chance, you know." Jason frowned, kicking the ground softly.

"Keep telling yourself that." Nico said.

"Percy's on his way to get the flag right now, with backup. I don't think your team can hold out much longer." smiled Will, moving his hand in a circular pattern.

Dirk stepped up behind them, catching Jason's attention, who made desperate motions with his head, tilting to his right. "I'm surprised you didn't bring Piper with you, she'd be an asset right now."

Nico and Will jumped, turning around so fast, they almost fell. Jason let out a groan, he didn't want Dirk to waste time, he should have gone to look for the flag, not hang around and be held prisoner.

"You're here to save your poor teammates, huh? Do you even care about winning?" Will asked.

"Well, obviously." Dirk smiled.

The ground cracked under Nico's feet, an opening being split for the dead to crawl out from. Two skeletons came out, dressed in full armor, raising their swords menacingly. "Let's see what you can do."

"Ready when you are."

Will knocked an arrow from his bow, Nico ordered the skeletons to fight, Dirk dodged and swung, Jason sat around doing nothing. A glint from imperial gold caught Dirk's attention, it was Jason's gladius. He sidestepped another arrow and parried a strike from the Stygian Iron. His hands made his way to the grip of the sword, he picked it up and continued defending himself with his other hand. Somehow, not too long after the fighting started, Dirk got on the other side of the two, freeing Jason was going to be easy until… one of the skeletons got in the way. This was starting to get very annoying.

So instead, he threw the Roman weapon to his teammate, who beamed as he caught it. "Thanks man." Jason called.

Dirk answered with a nod as he ducked. "Time to go?" he asked.

"You're not leaving!" Nico declared with a swipe from his blade. Dirk moved quickly, almost like shadow traveling the short distance, and kicked him squarely in the chest. "Oof!"

"Nico!" Will cried protectively.

Jason blew the arrow heading for Dirk off course, frantically beckoning with his arms. "Come on!" he hissed, slicing the hand off of a skeleton and pushing it into the other.

Dirk took the moment Nico needed to collect himself to run, catching up with Jason and scurried back into the vegetation. "How was that?" he directed at the freed prisoner. "How did I do?"

"Pretty well, that's for sure. The flag isn't too far from here, two Nike kids are guarding it."

"The shoe brand?"

"If only."

"Let's take them down then."

"Yes, let's."

Jason led the way, a small mound getting closer. "They're smart, they didn't put it up there this time." he scoffed, continuing slightly to the left.

The blue garment stood out like a flag, because it was one. "Do you have a plan?" he whispered, hiding behind a tree to shield him from the guards' views. Dirk looked almost offended, "Always, it's the simplicity that worries me."

"Yeah? And how simple is your plan?"

"How about one of us distracts, the other takes?"

"I can deal with that."

"You distract them."

"Ok." Jason stepped into their sight. "Hey, nice flag you got!" he taunted.

Dirk facepalmed, that was the best he could do? Apparently, it was enough. Guy 1 charged with his spear in front and Gal 2 watched them eagerly. Guy 1 was having a load of trouble fighting the son of the sky god, so Gal 2 joined in, taking out her dagger and rushed over. This was way too stupid, but hey, it did good. The flag was now for the taking.

In the blink of an eye, or what seemed to be a blink, the flag was gone from its place and was heading away with ease. Dirk twisted and turned, expertly making way. People saw him, some cheered him on, others cursed after him, attempting to rescue the flag.

He was running when Frank was seen in his path. The son of Mars took a fighting stance and wore an eager expression at the idea of stopping the red team's victory. Too stubborn to find a detour, Dirk jumped a couple feet in the air over him, flying a bit as an extra precaution, and kicked off for a boast, leaving a very disorganized Chinese Canadian on the ground. "What the heck?" he shouted and chased after the teasing white boy.

The creek was now in sight, a crowd was whooping. Not for him. Percy just emerged from the North Woods, flag in hand, a squad containing Annabeth, Hazel, a large muscly man, and more following. Dirk moved faster, becoming the blur he usually is whenever he uses Cal to fight, he missed that guy. They were so ready to win this, imagine their surprise when he was there, waiting for them at the creek.

The cheering had died and everyone stared at him, but this time, he didn't mind. "Looks like I beat you after all, Percy."

Another group arrived behind them and stopped in their tracks. A renewed enthusiasm stirred, louder than the one before. Leo got to where Dirk was, Piper joined them later. "Good job, man!" Leo punched his arm. "I'm glad the sacrifice of four of my catapults was worth it!"

"You don't want to know." Piper assured, itching to hold the flag she never won until now.

A horn signaled the end of the game, all players everywhere gathered to see who the victor was. Disappointment struck the blue team as the red team celebrated with gusto. Jason arrived with the two blue guards that stood shocked and devastated that the flag had been stolen right under their noses. "We won!" the blond said, enjoying the defeat in Percy's eyes.

"Yeah, congratulations." Annabeth rolled her eyes, someone in the crowd coughed something that sounded like 'about time.'

All residents of Camp Half Blood went to the Mess Hall, enjoying themselves and talking about the most recent topic.

"I tripped the Nemesis girl back there, she didn't know what hit her."

"Festus and I held back your little squad and many others, that's right, who's the boss?"

"Not you."

"Hey!"

"Well, I was able to charmspeak Mark into dropping his weapon."

"So what, Drew? Not like it did much to help."

"I didn't see you do anything useful."

And more like this.

Dessert was being served, chattering rose as the nymphs and satyrs piped in, talking about how the game went from their tree or post. Everyone was enjoying themselves, the food stacked high, even Dionysus was having fun with his kids, if not scolding them for losing, it wasn't their fault. It was just a game.

Chiron strolled around the tables, adding comments on how to improve for the next week's Capture the Flag or for congratulating them for their close victory. Jason seemed especially happy, according to Piper, he hasn't been this happy since Leo got back from Ogygia with his girlfriend, Calypso. The mood was something that made them all joyful, it gave the world an example of innocence presented as a group of kids raised as warriors.

Once the plates were clean and stomachs were full, people said 'goodnight' to one another and set for their rooms, the sun had set long before, even prior to the game, and the time was getting later. "I have to admit, that was pretty fun." Dirk said to Percy, who was slightly grumpy at the moment.

"I guess so. You didn't use any of your god powers, did you?" he asked, almost too expecting.

"No, um, once. I flew over Frank, but only by a foot or two. Nothing major."

"I could have stopped you."

"I highly doubt it." Dirk was tempted to say it in a sing-song voice, but ended up thinking against it.

"Are you trying me?"

"Maybe."

Annabeth came over to them, talking with one of her sisters about the upcoming quest's journey. "When I leave, you should be the cabin's leader. I trust you with the responsibility."

Her sister gave a small bow with her head, "Thank you, I won't let you down Annabeth." And she left.

"Whew, glad everything is ready." Annabeth sighed, sitting next to the two boys.

"When are we leaving?" Percy asked, leaning closer to her.

"Tomorrow. Don't tell me you didn't prepare." she glowered. "It's common sense. We have always left soon after the prophecy was given!"

"I know, I just forgot how soon. I really don't look forward to leaving New York."

Annabeth agreed, putting her head on Percy's shoulder. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we return. Until then, all we do is make sure we don't die, got it?"

"You act as if I try to get myself killed."

"No, but you are reckless."

"I'm going to get some sleep. See you tomorrow then." Dirk bid them goodnight and went to Cabin 1.

Dirk looked down at his clothes, the orange cap on his shirt stood out in the surrounding white. He had figured that a world full of people would look at him all weird if he wore his prince outfit. Its comfiness is not worth humiliation in a place like that. Oh well.

Upon entering the cabin, he swapped his clothes into said outfit, the silky touch was nice. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers over him, satisfied with how the day went. A nagging voice called from the back of his mind. _You left them. You left them behind. How could you?_ He opened his eyes. 'Great, I can hear voices in my head. Shut up and let me sleep.' He rolled over on his side, staring at the front door. It shook once and opened, Jason came in. Their gazes interlocked for an uncomfortable minute. Then Jason spoke.

"What are you wearing?" Dirk had figured he'd ask something like that.

"My fucking god tier outfit, I got it when I ascended. I know it looks weird and stupid, believe me. It's just really soft, they're like pajamas."

Jason laughed, "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were trying to play dress up." He moved over to his corner.

Until recently, Dirk had wondered why he chose to sleep on the ground rather than on a bed. He had said that it was the only spot where the statue did not appear to look at, both agreed that it was creepy and concerning.

"Can't we just destroy it?" Dirk had asked.

"What would you do if you were Zeus and your statue in your cabin was destroyed?" Jason joked back.

"I would… get upset, of course. Can we remove it?"

Without bothering to say anything, Jason just looked at him with a face that said 'are you serious?'

"Right, never mind."

Dirk took off his glasses as Jason called "Lights out."

The darkness reminded Dirk of something, he didn't really know what. _Outside the incipishere, in the Furthest Ring._ He supposed that was it. His eyes were closing and he drifted off into sleep.


	5. Just Barely Starting and Yet

Chapter 5: Just Barely Starting and Yet…

Everything was frozen in place, it was confusing. "What is going on here?" Dirk drifted aimlessly around, the room he came from was all purple. As he continued, all he saw was purple, was he back in Sburb? On Derse specifically? He looked down to his outfit, it was the prince one, he didn't really know what he was expecting. "Was the Camp a dream? Nothing like that happened before."

He could see people off in the distance, but they weren't moving. He flew to them, squinting to try and make out who they were.

They weren't getting any closer.

"Yo!" the teen called, "Please, tell me what's happening around here!"

He surged onward, nothing changed. Desperate, he didn't notice until he bumped into something that threw him off track. A green skulled figure dressed in a black cloak had appeared. He, she, it(?) reminded Dirk of Jake, or was it originated the other way? Jake's helmet/mask/communicator thing was imitating this person?

"I'm sorry, you're not supposed to be here right now." it said with a female's voice. So 'it' is a she. She pointed at him and a green blast knocked him out. What the hell was that?

"DIRK!"

His eyes fluttered open, he stared at a worried Jason. "Are you okay? You just shook violently. Did you have a nightmare?"

Dirk shook his head, "No, I'm fine, I thought I was on Derse..." He noticed Jason looking at him all funny. "What?"

"You have orange eyes, and it's not like a hazel or amber. It looks so... unnatural."

Dirk raised an eyebrow, "Is it? You have a bright blue, Annabeth has a gray, Percy has a certain shade of green, Hazel has a golden color, why can't I have orange?"

Jason opened his mouth, then realized he didn't know what to say, and closed it. He heaved a sigh and slumped onto the ground, sitting at the foot of the bed. "When do you think the 'void' friend of yours will arrive, before or after we leave?"

"I don't know, the dream I had… everything was still and silent, or incredibly slow, I don't even know if our time is in correlation to each other's. Then the fact that I was sent here by a Space player, twice."

"Twice?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Jake's grandma… Jade, is a Space player, the witch or something. Then the one in my dream was wearing the Space symbol on her cloak. I don't know if she woke me up, or you did, the timing might have just been a coincidence."

"So, you think one of them would send your friend here?"

"It's possible."

"Alright then, when?"

Dirk shrugged, "No idea, bro. Soon, I hope." The shades were now on his face. "Are we meeting with the others now?"

Jason nodded and got up. "Yeah, come on."

The sun wasn't up yet, the rest of the camp was asleep. Despite this, the two got ready. Dirk changed from the pajamas with stupid pantaloons, Jason put on his usual t-shirt and jeans. They left the cabin and headed to the dining pavilion, where a ship was waiting.

"Shit." Dirk laughed, Jason looked at him with a pleased smile. "Awesome, right? Leo rebuilt it not too long ago."

Leo was standing at the base, looking up at it happily. A girl was with him, she was kind of pretty. "I thought you promised to never leave me." She pouted.

"Calypso," Leo turned to her, "that's why I'm bringing you with me, despite what the others say."

Calypso giggled, "You're so stupid." She said, playfully pushing him, then brought him closer. "That's why I love you."

Before they could kiss, Dirk cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?"

The lovebirds blushed, Calypso dropped her arms and Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing at all, heh." Leo smiled. Calypso was clearly upset, but she put it off with the thought that she could stay with her boyfriend while they left New York.

"So now we'll have nine people, not including a friend that's supposed to arrive." Jason noted.

"Wouldn't that attract a ton of monsters? I'm guessing your ship can handle that though." Dirk commented. "That is one ship."

"One sweet masterpiece constructed by none other than the great Valdez himself," Leo held out his hands in exaggeration, "with the help of someone else's blueprints and my siblings."

The rest of the team arrived and boarded the ship, Leo gave a tour to Dirk, showing him everything, from the mess hall that had walls showing footage of the strawberry fields in camp to the stables. There were only eight cabins, originally designed for the seven heroes and a satyr known as Coach Hedge, Gleeson was his first name. Dirk took the satyr's room and Calypso stayed with Leo.

"I didn't really use my room much last time, I just stayed in the engine room to sleep." Leo said. "Maybe Calypso could take it and I keep doing what I did."

Gleeson Hedge's cabin was rather messy, to the side, there was, as Leo had called it, a "rainbow generator" for Iris messages. It was used to get words to his beloved wife, Mellie, who was pregnant during the time the two camps were at the brink of war. That must have been nerve wrecking.

They all arrived at the decks as Leo gave the ship orders to lift off.

"You wouldn't happen to have motion sickness, would you?" Frank asked Dirk as the Argo II was rising.

"No." Dirk replied. "I don't thi-"

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" a holographic version of, what Dirk assumed to be, Hedge.

He looked at Frank who wore a tired expression. "But I do have clothes on."

"Don't mind it, it can only say that and a few other sentences."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"Ah, okay."

The table, Buford, moved away, the hologram on top stopped shouting and escaped to below deck. The table almost seemed embarrassed, but that was impossible, it didn't have any feelings… right?

"Weird." was all Dirk said in response to the 'interesting' invention Leo had created. "Alright, then, how does the schedule of the ship go?"

"Um, I don't think I can say for sure, it depends on how long it will take to get to our destination. Any idea where to?" Frank asked.

"There you are, Frank." Hazel smiled, joining them. "Hey Dirk."

Hazel beckoned for Frank to come closer and she whispered something into his ear, the only response was that Frank jumped and ran below deck, shouting something like "Where's the stick?"

Before Dirk was allowed to ask, the African American held up her fingers. "His life is connected to a piece of firewood. If it burns out, he dies." She began to walk, "I'll go help him find it."

"Why did you whisper it to him, it was as if you didn't want me to hear."

"Perhaps, perhaps not." She shrugged. "Either way, it's interesting how it just disappeared like that."

Dirk paced around the deck, looking over the edge of the boat every so often. The movement of a person who clearly had nothing to do bugged Percy, who was feeling the same way. Sure, he had Annabeth, but she was busy helping Leo and Calypso with the oars. He watched as Dirk went below deck and followed him, taking the seat next to him at the table in the mess hall.

"Hey."

"Sup?"

"Where's your void-y friend? Could you tell me about them?" Percy asked, longing for something, anything, to pass the time.

"Her name is Roxy Lalonde, the only other person in the 25th century besides me." He started, his fingers circling the brim of the glass of water that stood on the table. "Blond hair, sort of like a mixture of mine and Jason's, and pink eyes."

"Pink? Weird."

"Sure, like it's weird for me to have orange, for you to have sea-green, Annabeth gray, Hazel gold, Jason electric-blue, and so on."

"Wow, you pay a lot of attention to eye color." Percy laughed. "And I would've thought you had blue or green, maybe even brown to be honest. You should take off your sunglasses."

"Nah, I look cool in them." Dirk pushed it up to the bridge of his nose. "Okay, back to Roxy."

He talked about both of their ancestors, her personality, the small details on her role in Sburb, as much as he could.

"She helps her neighbors a lot, feeding them pumpkins she gets from Jake." Which was nice of her to do.

"She loves wizards, she even writes 'fanprose' for them. She's also pretty good at the 'esoteric' sciences, you know, ectobiology, dark fenestrology, and appearification… at least, that's what she calls the processes. Roxy tends to collect dead preserved cats that she makes from her experiments." He didn't realize he knew this much about her.

"Being a Rogue of Void, she can _steal_ void? Like, steal _nothingness_?" Percy asked in awe.

"Yeah."

"How does that work?"

"Well, I haven't seen her do something like that, but she would be able to sort of appear an object by taking away its void. It's confusing, but interesting."

"Hmm."

Piper came into the room, sitting down at as Jason entered. One by one, the demigods filed in and took their seats, Leo being last and Calypso waited at the entrance. Annabeth flashed a look at Percy, who mouthed 'what?' at her. She shrugged and slouched on her chair. Jason cleared his voice and everyone looked at him.

"The prophecy says to travel south, trouble is that we don't know how south." He turned to Dirk. "Do you have even the slightest clue?"

"Houston, probably."

Leo stood up, "In Texas?"

"Yeah." Dirk nodded. "Is something wrong?"

"I was born there, that's where all my bad memories come from…" he put a hand to his head. "I don't want to go back."

"That's going to be a problem." Hazel sighed.

From nowhere, the ship shook, rocking back and forth as if being stirred around by the clouds. Calypso was tossed from her post, several of those sitting stood up, and Jason was the first one out the door. Eventually, it didn't take too long, the whole crew made it above deck, with the exception of Buford the talking table and the descendant of Atlas, both in the engine room keeping the boat in check.

It was raining like crazy, winds caught the Argo II in a sort of cyclone. A few of the ship's oars were torn off and were sent flying, dangerously close to hitting some of them.

"Why is your dad so mad?" Percy shouted at Jason, clinging onto anything that he could cling on. "Does he want us to die?"

"I don't know! I don't think this is Jupiter's, or Zeus's, doing!" Jason yelled back, kneeling on the floor for some balance.

"How are we supposed to fight wind?" Leo asked, "We can't just attack it with swords and I doubt it will let us go!"

Annabeth studied the gusts, trying to pinpoint the cause of such a storm. "I can't tell if it is created by venti, but it is definitely unnatural."

"Geez, what gave you that idea?" Percy smirked sarcastically. "Was it that we deal with unnatural things all the time?" Annabeth scoffed at him.

"Wait, I have an idea." Jason snapped his fingers, took out his gladius, and pointed it upwards to the sky. The clouds thundered and a single streak of light formed. It boomed above them, attacking whatever, or whoever, was making the storm. A sizzle emitted from the target, blackening them and turning them to dust. It must have been some sort of monster; their ashes were blown away. The velocity of the winds began to die down.

Jason made the mistake of standing up with a whoop of victory, as he was hit in the back of the head with a flying oar, knocking him unconscious, and was blown away.

"Jason!" Piper called, as if that would do any good.

Dirk jumped up and took flight, chasing after Jason in hopes of catching him before he got too far. He stretched out his hand, getting so close. The wind, which still had enough strength, blew off Dirk's sunglasses, the sudden pressure on his eyes forced him to close them, "Shit!"

By the time he opened his eyes again, Jason was nowhere to be seen. Spin around, shake your head, search high and low. It was as though he completely disappeared.

"No…" Dirk muttered, a sense of failure rushed upon him. Slowly, he turned around and headed back to the others' company, this wasn't going to be good.

Chattering clamored on the ship, a circle formed around something, but what? Dirk landed on the deck and walked over to them, silent at first, feeling an over excess of guilt.

"Who is she?"

"Do you think that-"

"-she's the person of void we had to befriend?"

"Most likely."

"What about Jason."

"Don't worry, the guy's tough as hell, he'll be okay… I hope…"

"You _hope_?"

"Guys…" he stuttered.

Percy looked up, searching for the person who said that word. When he spotted the kid, he beckoned for him to come, which he did hesitantly. "Is this your friend?" he questioned, referring to the person on the floor.

This person wore dark blue, a hoodie and mask covered most of their face, but telling from the body shape, this was a girl. Strands of hair, the color of butter, peered out from the hoods opening and appeared in a mess, poking out in different directions, ruffled by the heavy wind. A disconnected swirl symbol was on her chest, barely noticeable if not for the dark accents and the consistent pattern, the void symbol.

Dirk nodded and smiled with a short-term relief. "It's Roxy."

* * *

 **Sorry about that… I'm starting to experience the "writer's block" thing and I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing, everything is coming off as I go. I will try to write more chapters, but they will update a whole lot slower. I really appreciate the reviews, they make me so happy. :D**

 **Thanks for reading! :3**


	6. Waking Up to New Problems

Chapter 6: Wake Up to New Problems

"Ugh, what happened?" Jason barely opened his eyes, forcing them shut again. "And why is it so bright?"

Every inch of his body felt sore, it was hard moving a single muscle. His arm tried to stretch itself out, but found it incredibly difficult. "Well, this is unfortunate." He sighed, feeling so tired. Sleep wasn't so bad. He felt numb, his breathing was slow. His eyes suddenly forced open. "Am I dead?" he gasped, wincing as he touched the back of his head.

"no, you're not dead." A voice laughed beyond his range of vision. A boy floated over to where Jason was lying down and grinned goofily. "you were knocked out for a while, good to know you're still alive."

Jason jolted upwards and held the grip of his gladius, flinching slightly, preparing for any threat the kid might possess. He seemed to get the idea and held up his hands. "wow, chill dude, don't worry, i'm not going to hurt you, or anything."

His outfit was weird, maybe as weird as Dirk's, without the pantaloons though, thank goodness for that. Jason loosened his grip and lazily nodded, rubbing his eyes and struggling to stay awake. The soreness was getting somewhat less intense. "who are you, anyway?" the blue boy asked.

"I'm Jason. Where are we? Where did you come from?"

"oh, nice name! and for your questions, i have no idea. i sort of just poofed here after getting blasted to ash… hm, like my nanna, i guess, but without a proper burning and more like a crash from lightning. do you know where that lightning bolt came from?"

Jason was at a loss of words. Was this kid the one that almost tore up the Argo II? Was he…? "Are you someone else from Sburb?"

The kid looked shocked, quite taken aback indeed. "yeah. how did you know?"

"You wouldn't happen to be the friend Dirk mentioned, would you?"

He was very confused now.

* * *

Dirk sat next to the girl now in the Sickbay, stressing with what happened to Jason but anxious for Roxy to wake up. It was like watching over her dream self back on Derse all over again. "Come on." he whispered, tapping his feet impatiently.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Piper asked, standing at the door. "May I come in?"

"Sure."

Her eyes glanced at Roxy and looked away. "We get her and lose Jason. Fitting. Especially with the prophecy saying so."

"The prophecy didn't-"

"'Wait for the void to arrive; And the wind who will come with grace.' Very unclear, I guess, but what if it meant it was a trade?"

"I don't think so. Maybe another player is coming with Jason, someone from the Beta timeline, the one before our session." He referred to the one prior to that which belonged to Jane, Roxy, Jake, and himself.

"So many 'maybes', there is no definite future, is there?" Piper scoffed, "Then again, when have there ever been?" she let out a gentle sigh and turned he gaze at Roxy again. "She is pretty though."

"I guess."

The sheets ruffled, as if it was waiting for something nice. "aw, are u guys talkin about me?" a grin stretched across the girl's face. "this is sweet, i get a welcoming committee of two… " she stopped, squinting at them. "le gasp! are u two together?!"

Piper looked as if she might slap someone, or charmspeak them into jumping off the boat, or both. "No. NO! We are NOT together!" she then turned to Dirk with a pleading look.

"You know me better than that, Roxy."

"+ dis is why i cant get w u, too bad : ( "

"How are you here?" Dirk pressed on.

"o, u kno, calliope did all her spacy majyyks on us and we appeared here on ur ship. nah actually? i think we were above ur ship or somethin"

"Were you the cause of that cyclone?" Piper butted in, her magical influence in her words started to leak.

"not me, tha was johnny, i was all floaty and tryin to talk w him about how we were sent here 4 a reason? and tha he should probably stop hyperventilatin"

"What happened next?"

"well, he was about to stop, but then, a giant lightnin came from nowhere, and he sploded into tiny dust. POOF! that was the end of poor sweet innocent poor POOR dear johnny. le SIGN"

"So 'Johnny' is here, who was he, another person from your game?" Piper asked, leaning against a wall and putting her foot there.

"Not exactly, but yeah, like I said not that long ago, he was from the one _before_ ours." Dirk answered, earning a "yep!" from Roxy. "ur a fast learner AND ur pretty, nice gurl u found dirky *wonk* ;)"

"Whatever. I'm going to my room." She said with hands up in a surrendering way. "Talk all you want about whatever you want. I don't care."

Roxy smirked a little bit, "isnt she the wonkiest"

"Let me get you all caught up." Dirk exhaled, ready to tell her all about Greek mythology, the prophecies and the people she'll meet.

After fifteen minutes of Dirk's explanation and Roxy's occasional "mmm" and "o rly"s, as if completely intrigued and interested in his words, at the edge of her seat, er, bed, for whatever he'd say next, she did not take in a single word.

"im sry, i cant pay attention to long stories!"

"Okay, fine. Just listen to the prophecies then."

Another minute came by and she finally understood.

"the 'wind tha will come w grace', thats john and your boy. jason was his name? that is an awesome name"

"So, we have that part down, is there anything else?"

"o yea, 'mind b open to fire', calliope said somethin about a mind, john understood what she meant, u should ask him when he comes back from the ded"

"Alright, thanks." He slipped a smile and patted Roxy's back. "Nice to have a friend that I know is safe."

"but wouldnt u prefer ur boy? or is di stri meanin wat he says"

The smile faded and an accusing expression replaced it. "I mean it. I might not like you in that way, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't die for you."

"ur goin so deep, i feel happy…" Roxy wiped her eyes of imaginary tears that she actually wished would appear to be there. "if it comes to that, id die for you too. thats wat friends r for?"

"That's what friends are for." He agreed. _Especially in a world of danger and death threats._ "But I won't let you die like that, it could seriously end your life, even as a god tier."

"then… dyin 4 each other would just kill ourself but if we didnt die for each other then both of us will b alive. is dis wat ur sayin?"

"Yes."

"that just defeats the whole purpose of a movin movement"

"Yes, it does."

"do i still have to stay in dis bed? could i get of it?"

"Oh, of course." The prince of heart reached out a hand and lifted her up.

The rest of the group were scattered around the Argo II, which hasn't moved in the air since Jason's disappearance. Exiting the Sickbay, with Roxy by his side, Dirk went up the stairs and passed the lower deck. Piper, Hazel, and Calypso were in their rooms, none of which had any incentive to leave at that particular moment, nor on letting anyone in. He passed by their cabins and made way to his own.

"And this is my room." He stated plainly.

"where do i stay?" Roxy asked, walking straight through the open door. "do i get to sleep here too?"

"You could, if you want."

"ye"

"Okay then." The boy sighed and sat on the bed. "We should probably let the others know you're awake."

"ye, probably"

Lazily, Dirk left the room once again, Roxy following closely behind him. The guys of the crew, and Annabeth, were on the deck, so that is where they went to. Frank and Percy were having a conversation as Annabeth and Leo were at the helm. Roxy bounced over to the two talking and grinned.

"thanks for keepin dirk sane, i rly appreciate it"

Percy raised an eyebrow, "You're welcome, I guess."

Frank chuckled, "No problem."

"hey dirky! where r u goin?"

The blond simply glanced at her and shrugged, then turned to leave her with the demigods. He got to the side of the boat and jumped off, letting the wind catch him and he flew away.

"dirk!" Roxy frowned, "is he goin after your jason person?"

The Chinese-Canadian looked shocked, "Uh? Maybe?"

Percy, on the other hand, had expected that. He just continued to lean on the rail and crossed his arms. "Definitely."

* * *

"ok, so, you think i'm the void person your friend, dirk, spoke about?" John asked, trying to get this straight.

"The one from the prophecy. That was just Dirk's interpretation of that specific line." Jason corrected.

John laughed, "yeah, i don't think i am. roxy is probably the one mentioned, not me."

"Who's Roxy?"

"the girl that i came with when we got here."

"And Dirk knows who she is?"

"i think so. they were from the same session, so, yeah."

John was supporting Jason off the ground. "i think that i am 'the wind' from the prophecy. you are the 'grace', right?"

"That's right. I can fly by myself now."

"ok."

Jason stumbled a bit, but got over it quickly. John had already gone ahead of him, looking back with a relaxed posture, hands behind his neck. "What are you looking at?" the blond asked truthfully once he caught up to the raven-haired kid. "you said that your friends are on a flying boat, right?"

"Yeah?"

"were you referring to that one?"

He turned his head and saw a ship moving towards them. "No, that's not…" his mind went blank for a moment. What was he talking about again? The ship just kept moving. It looked very similar to the one Leo manufactured, but not quite. It looked older.

"jason?"

John's voice snapped him back to reality and he shook his head. "No, that isn't." he cast a sideways glance at the approaching boat. "We should go." John agreed and turned around, ready to leave when he realized Jason was not moving. "hey, are you coming or do you want to stay and find out what that thing is?"

Blankly, Jason looked up at John. "I… don't know. Half of me wants to go-"

"-and the other half wants to stay." John finished. "then we can stay, no harm in doing so, right?"

Jason nodded absentmindedly, already floating closer. John exhaled and followed suit. The sides of the hull had so many oars, John didn't feel like counting. A couple hundreds maybe. The nearer they got, the clearer it was, someone was singing, or chanting, and being new to this world, or part of this world, the heir had no idea who it was. "jason, do you hear that?"

No answer, great. "say something if you are okay." John tested.

No answer. "ok, then, time to go." He pulled on Jason's arm, but neither of them budged, and it didn't even seem as if the demigod was resisting. "jason!" he called into his ear. He didn't even flinch.

This was getting annoying. John tried evaporating into wind, his friend along with him, yet nothing happened. It seemed like another force was acting against him. "JASON!" His voice amplified, causing a ripple that magnified in the air. This worked well, since Jason covered his ears and yelped.

"FINALLY!" John sighed with relief, "come on! we need to get out of here, right now!" he pulled.

"What? What happened?"

"no time, let's go!"

"You two are not going anywhere." a woman from the ship answered. She had long, black hair that laid on one shoulder, vivid red nails that looked rather sharp, and a long black dress with diamond jewelry. A serene yet menacing smile stretched from her mouth. "It is nice to see you once more, Jason." She said with a hiss.

"a friend?" the blue boy asked rhetorically. "who is she?"

"Medea." the Roman halfblood snarled.

The ship disappeared and reemerged from under them, teleporting entirely to trap the two boys. "i have a feeling that we are in a lot of trouble." John said, taking a defensive position, however weird and informal it was. Jason's gladius was in his raised hand, his eyes darkened with the mood. This was going to take some time.

* * *

 **A/N: I feel like I'm rushing this way too much, and am moving on improvs a whole lot. Sorry about such a short chapter, I've been working on this for a while, but couldn't find the time since my school is pushing work on us freshmen. I kind of doubt that I am facing anything compared to most others, but I still feel stressed out.**

 **Also, I have a problem with sticking to fandoms for a long time, since I can change to another in a heartbeat. But I will try my best to continue this.**


	7. A Bit More

Chapter 7: A Bit More

Swirls of magic charged off of the sorceress' fingertips, making rings of spells around her. It was beautiful, if you didn't value your life enough to run. Any normal person would have panicked and hide in any spot they could find, but John and Jason were far from normal.

"My dears, why don't you let me purify you? It would only take a second." the witch whined when the son of Jupiter dodged a beam of fire. 'There is absolutely no way this woman was sane… not that she was the first time.' the boy thought, barely escaping a stroke of light.

"How did you even escape the Fields of Punishment?" Jason dared to ask, sidestepping another failed attempt.

"None of your concern, Jason." she tasted the name and loved it. She was so ready to kill him for everything he reminded her of… for someone he reminded her of.

John was ignored at first, he wasn't entirely sure what to do. A miniature tornado formed on his palm, gradually growing as he swung his arm at Medea. A smile creeped on her face as she teleported away. "Young god, why do you try so hard?" she murmured through her stretched grin as she returned an attack. John's eyes widened as the assault came forward, having just enough time to turn into wind.

The demigod was not faring well at all. Even as the boy in blue held the attention of the sorceress for the short time, he couldn't free himself from the magic she wielded. His gladius was raised as he swung it at the incoming ball of energy, like in baseball, and knocked it off course. Jason's hand shook from the force of the sorcery against his weapon, nearly causing him to drop it.

He looked up just in time to see the heir of breath get blown out of the boat. "John!"

The boy tried to regain his balance in the air, something he thought would never bother him, and came to a slow realization that the woman ceased fire. John glanced back at the ship's deck to see Jason struggle against her power. "jason!"

He reached into his sylladex and pulled out his trusty Warhammer of Zillyhoo. The familiar weapon fell into his hands as he charged against the crazy lady.

"Oh, how long I have waited to- Oof!" she sputtered as she flew to the edge of her ship. John glared at her with the same eyes that shone fun and mischief, only that now, it had anger. The blond took the hand offered to him and stood back up, noticing the difference in the air around them.

"What do you want this time, Medea?"

The woman smirked, "Oh, many things. Revenge, power, even the coming of an old master." She waved her hand carelessly, making Jason flinch. "And trust me, chaos will reign."

John leapt forward, dashing to the unexpecting sorceress, who teleported out of harm's way. The hammer smashed the wood where she once stood, dangerously emitting shockwaves to the surrounding oars. The ship tilted, the balance was disrupted.

"Persistent." Medea mumbled, turning to face the source of such power. Egbert conjured winds that aimed for her, trying their best under his command. Jason looked up to the sky, with the break from the fight allowing him such leisure.

"Come on, father, now is a good time to help…" he paused and looked over to the crazed magician. "She is kind of your problem…"

As if on cue, a thunderbolt crashed onto the ship, piercing its way through until it came out of the bottom of the hull. The tension in the air seemed to say 'Shut up, she is much more your problem than mine. Besides, it wasn't me who got her angry.'

Fire arose and began engulfing the craft, John burst out laughing, taunting the witch between breaths. Medea did not take it well; the jerk it caused her vessel made her curse some pretty bad words. "Zeus! I promise you, this is the last straw!"

'Great, now she's angry at me.' Jupiter seemed amused, before returning the flow of the air back to its original state. Jason, nevertheless, smiled. "Thank you, father." He said, before plunging back into the heated fight.

* * *

Roxy blew a strand of hair away from her face, lazily waiting for anything interesting to happen, or to speak with Annabeth, whichever one came first. As luck would have it, Frank transformed into a lizard when she snuck up from behind, actually scaring the Chinese Canadian.

"omg, u just turned into an animal" Roxy choked out, giggling throughout. A flustered Frank reappeared, looking very serious above his embarrassment. "can u turn into ANY animal?"

Frank contemplated on whether he should tell her. On one hand, they were teammates, or were supposed to be, while on the other, she seems, how do you put it? Overexcited? He caved in after noticing that she was waiting patiently, _very_ patiently. "Yes?"

The girl gasped and hit him on his back, practically knocking him down. "thats great! can u become a cat? pls? 4 me?"

The Roman demigod sighed and did as he was told. A small Chinese Li Hua glanced around with dilated yellow eyes. Lalonde swooped the cat into her arms, hugging him tightly and with more affection than a cat needs. 'This is humiliating.' Frank thought, purring when the rogue of void rubbed his head.

"Hey Frank?" Hazel called, coming from the opening to the deck. "I need to talk to-" she then noticed the cat in the arms of a very awake friend of Dirk's. "-you."

He jumped out of Roxy's grasp and became human once more. "Hazel! What do you need?" he asked quickly, running to her aid.

"Comfort." she said simply. "Plus, your wood was in the stables."

Frank groaned as he took the pouch from her hands. "Who put it there?" The daughter of Pluto shrugged, patting him on his arm.

"Come on, big guy, there's more that I need to tell you."

She led him back down below deck, to where? Roxy didn't know and didn't care.

Roxy faced the conversation Leo and Annabeth were having to find that they were done. The girl went to meet the child of Athena, hoping she may, at least, find her useful rather than another person to add on to the growing crew of teens. "annie!" The blond stopped in her tracks and slowly looked over her shoulders. "Please don't call me that, but otherwise, what can I do for you?"

"i was wonderin wat I can do for U, since im not doin anythin in the first place"

Chase nodded and turned to fully face her. "As of now? Nothing. We're supposed to be waiting for Jason to come with the wind, and until then, we're stuck."

* * *

Medea desperately tried to put out the flames, but with the two trying to either escape or attack her, it was rather difficult. "Ugh." She gagged as the fire under her shoe smoldered into ashes. At random, spells shot to the rising heat, cooling it down little by little. The two boys used these opportunities to blow on the fire, letting it spread to places beyond the sorceress' reach.

"Give up!" Jason demanded, arching back to avoid an incoming hex. "You can't win!"

The woman smiled, it was a crazy smile. "Never! I will take you down, if it is the last thing I do!" she shouted, blasting the mast above him. Panting, she gestured at the scene around them. "Do you remember this ship, Jason? You stole me from my home on this!" another incantation was discharged.

John flew out of the way and swung his own weapon, "i don't think that that happened?" He glanced to his friend for reassurance.

"She's talking about the Greek hero from before."

His mouth was shaped in an 'o', then his face looked baffled. "didn't she willingly go with him? it's not like he captured her, right?"

Jason rolled away from the next wave as John was hit squarely in the stomach. The time it took for him to realize was enough for Medea to take advantage. "Hah!" she screamed in triumph as a curse impaled the surprised kid. Blood stained his shirt and he fell from the sky, landing on the floor of the watercraft with a lifeless 'thump'. "John!"

"Finally! No more distractions!" Medea sniggered, teleporting behind the shaken demigod. "Now, I will be taking your head." She murmured in a soft, powerful voice. He spun his sword at her only to catch thin air.

"Give up." she echoed. "You can't win."

Desperate, Grace pointed at the sky, calling a bolt of lightning to rage down. The witch hissed at the damage he was causing to the already battered boat. "If that is all you can do, there is really no hope of you succeeding!"

Her face lit up when she saw the boy charging at her, his gladius carrying more power due to the spark of electricity. "Haha."

* * *

Hazel shut the door behind them, turning back to a confused child of Mars. "And you brought me here to talk about what exactly?"

"Hecate just visited me when I was in the stables, she said that she thinks she knows who we are supposed to fight against, as a whole."

Frank looked down, slightly disappointed, it wasn't like he had thoughts for why she wanted to speak with him alone, he actually believed that she was going to bring good news, or something they didn't already know. "And what did she say?"

"The prophecy says 'an enemy beyond every race', right? And the second one was 'to destroy a cursed soul'."

"Where are you getting at? I thought we already figured out that it is Tartarus."

Hazel rocked on the balls of her feet. "And that's the thing. She didn't believe it was him."

Zhang stared at her to continue. "Beyond _every_ race, so what if it is before Gaea and Tartarus?" She took in another lungful of air. "I don't know, it's just a hunch she has. And besides that, she knows how Dirk and his friend got here."

"Did she bring them?"

"What? Of course not." she tilted her head. "She would have proven that prophecy from the gods if she did." Frank looked at her incredulously. "What?"

"Well, if she didn't do it, who brought them?"

"Someone from _their_ side. It makes sense. When Hecate was talking to me, she said that the game the first six gods and goddesses played had aspects that include that type of power. She only explained a little bit, but one of the aspects include space."

The Roman Praetor was impressed, however "Wouldn't space be referring to how big an object is? It couldn't teleport someone if it was like that."

"And there is where you are wrong, my friend." She smiled. "The link between our world and theirs' is open, a small push from one side can bring them into the other. And with this, all a space player needs to do is widen the rift, which can be opened anywhere, and transport someone here."

Frank inhaled, putting two fingers to his lip. "That is a handful." He commented.

* * *

This was not at all what Calypso had imagined their first mission would be. Hell, she didn't even think they would be bothered by missions. The talking table was silent, and has been ever since she came inside. "What do you suppose would happen?" she asked it.

"PUT SOME PANTS ON!"

"I figured you'd say that." She sighed, lying down on the bed. Leo was busy trying to pinpoint the damage the whirlwind caused to the craft. 'I should help.' She mused. But what does she know about engineering? Besides weaving wires, nothing. He did tell her that she should rest and let him handle everything, being as stubborn as he was, he cared for her. This was, after all, her first life-threatening trip ever since she lost all of her powers and was made into a mortal.

She laid on her side and drifted off to sleep, they were going to be there for a while anyway.

* * *

Dirk exhaled as he continued his search. How long has he been out here? Hours? Time didn't matter at this point. Being so used to his glasses, he continuously brings the tips of his fingers to the bridge of his nose, only to catch himself touching his skin rather than his former lenses. Sometimes, he squinted, others, he shaded his eyes with his hand, it was annoying to be so accustomed to something and lose it, even if it was temporary. He even considered using the ones with Hal in them, yet he left them in Sburb, fused with his sprite. After pointless wandering, he decided to turn back.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something huge. A ship? 'I thought that the Argo II stopped moving.' He pondered, floating closer to the interest. Flashes of light and electricity filled the boat, smoke rose from it and a fire burned relentlessly. "Okay, that is not good."

Lightning struck down on the flying mode of transportation multiple times. Ugh, why couldn't he move as fast in the air as on the ground? He wasn't going to have enough time at this rate. 'Just be okay.'

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, done!  
**


	8. What's To Come

Jason wasn't sure what he was doing at that point. Blindly charging at Medea proved not to be the best choice. He could see the dead body in his peripheral vision, it disturbed the hell out of him. Fire continued to spread, threatening to destroy the whole ship. A few minutes now and the wood would turn to ash.

"Haha!" Medea chuckled, tossing a spell at Jason, who dodged with increased difficulty. "Your friend is dead! What are you going to do?"

As he fought, he tried to rationalize. He was able to survive a lightning bolt, how did he not survive this? He was getting frustrated, nothing made sense.

Medea casted again, Jason trying his best to counter. The best strategy at that moment was to run away, fly back to the Argo II… but with John dead and the prophecy ruined, what'll happen?

Jason jumped up, getting some distance between him and the sorceress.

Magic is long-ranged, right? Or does it prove efficient even with little space? he wondered, having trained for close combat and few ranged weapons. Magic was not among them.

His gladius flew out of his hand, which ached from the fight. In other words, he was totally screwed.

Before long, a glow caught both of their attentions, temporarily making them forget the battle between them. It surrounded John's corpse, healing the wound and cleaning the blood stains. With a jump, he got back up on his feet. Taking a glance at the situation, he frowned. "we're still fighting?"

Jason felt relief wash over him, a smile fell upon his face. Medea couldn't be more irritated. "What's going on? I killed you! You should be dead!"

John shrugged. "yeah, about that…" he trailed off, letting imagination answer for him. "can we end this now? i want to meet up with roxy and your friends. anyone but her." he jabbed a finger in Medea's direction.

The demigod nodded in affirmation. "Agreed."

Jason got his sword from the ground as his friend covered him. Thankfully, it did not land in the flames, something good out of his life of ruin. With a weapon in hand, he and John glanced at each other and formed an unsaid plan. John nodded and turned to pay full attention to the witch.

"catch me if you can!" he taunted as he darted around in the air. By now, the two took opposite sides on their opponent, who was too focused on John to notice and too annoyed to realize she had forgotten about the other.

"Quit moving around!" she snarled, now shooting randomly at empty air. Once they formed a line, with Medea in the middle, they stopped circling around her and charged.

Being a magician, Medea didn't bother sidestepping, as she chose to make a barrier instead. Sadly for her, it was only designed to counter John's hammer, while Jason's sword pierced right through her body from behind.

"AAAGGGHH!" she screamed, attempting to squirm out of the weapon's blade. It proved useless, however, when her shield fell and the warhammer knocked her further into the gladius.

Medea's eyes widened with fear and pain, yet she smiled and even laughed. "Chaos will reign..." she muttered. She was then defeated as her body slacked and a considerable amount of ichor spilled out. Slowly, her body dissipated into dust.

John had the expression that people wear when they break a window with a stray baseball. "o...k?"

A groan escaped the ship, without the sorceress' magic, it can't fly. "let's go!" John called. "the fire would take care of the rest, you shouldn't stay on the boat when it does." Jason nodded and took off. Both flew away from the burning aircraft, looking over their shoulders as the last bit of the Argo smoldered into ashes. It reduced at a quickened pace, without the magic of Medea to dampen its destructiveness.

* * *

Am I too late? Dirk asked himself, looking at the descending ship that was decaying at an alarming rate. Did I fail?

He scanned the sky for anyone or anything. They must have made it out alive. John, more so than not (as a god tier, it was hard to kill him), and Jason, there was a possibility. Smoke covered the trail where the ship was falling from, where the two were most likely to be.

Two figures managed to catch his eye. It must have been John and Jason. The "wind" and "grace" as the prophecy had put it. He sighed with relief, gliding over to greet them.

"Dirk!" Jason called out.

"It's nice to see you both safe and unharmed." Dirk smiled. "Although I panicked when that ship blew up."

"that ship hosted a creepy hostess with magical powers and weird voodoo. then i died and we won!" John piped in, grinning like a lunatic.

"You don't want to know." Jason joked.

The trio flew back toward the direction of the Argo II, back to where it remained, lying in waiting for them to return. Soon, they will be able to get on with this crazy quest, and with luck, there will be no more distractions.

Of course, that was wishful thinking. What's a quest from the gods if not a little (which in reality means very) life-threatening and complex?

* * *

"Leo!" Calypso called, just as he walked past her. He turned to her, signifying that she got his attention, but didn't stop working. She wasn't sure what he was 'working' on, and quite frankly, neither did he. Something, anything, to keep his mind off the incoming troubles they were promised to face.

"Slow down for a second, please!"

Leo stopped abruptly, causing Calypso to bump into him. "Gods…" she muttered.

"Sorry, I just… I really don't want to go back to Texas." he whispered, turning to her.

Before he could say anything else, he was caught in a hug, within the warmth of her arms.

"I know, Leo, I know." she soothed, running her fingers through his hair.

It was nice how she didn't try to say something like: "Why not?" or "It'll be alright", or even "I'm sorry, but we have to." Best yet, she actually said something to him about it, and it felt like she said the right words.

"I don't want to do this quest…"

Once she pulled away, Calypso cupped his face and maintained eye contact. "Neither do I, but I'm here for you all the way." she smiled.

Neither knew who leaned in first, but it startled them both all the same. A simple kiss, yet it carried all the assurance either of them needed. For one, the promise of someone who'd always be there, and for the other, letting their partner know they're never alone.

That's right, he had nothing to fear. Gaea was gone and his mother's death no longer held him down. What's more, the wonderful *cough cough* Hera wasn't his babysitter. Still, he felt uneasy. This time, Leo was the one to hug Calypso. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, my hero." He chuckled at her words, but didn't let go, and I'm all honesty, she didn't mind one bit.

This scene would have been the cutest if only Buford hadn't butted in and shouting out: "ONE HUNDRED PUSH UPS!"

The suddenness of the table's arrival brought the two jumping up, almost.

"Damn that table…" Leo heard Calypso mutter.

If it wasn't to congratulate them, the loud Coach Hedge quote was to mock them. She humphed and walked away, letting a smile appear as she had passed her lover.

If anything, this trip has been made a whole hell of a lot easier and for that, Leo was eternally grateful.

"Wait… what was I doing?"

* * *

"I see them!" Annabeth shouted.

Roxy dropped her green cube thingy and ran over to her. "where, where?"

Before she could object, the Rogue of Void took the binoculars from the demigod, while the lanyard was still around her neck.

"Gah! Roxy, stop pulling!"

"theyre so close!" she beamed, ignoring Annabeth's frustration and complaints. "imma go meet them"

Dropping the binoculars, much to the daughter of Athena's delight, she kicked off the floorboard and glided over to them.

"john!"

"roxy? hey, you're ok!"

Jason's initial confusion was replaced by a calm smile. "So you're the void I've been told about."

"yup!"

The four made their way back onboard, relieved.

"I don't think I've ever had to fly that long before." Jason commented, right before Piper strangled him in a hug. Then a slap.

"What were you thinking?! Do you know how worried I was?" she immediately hugged him again. "Don't ever get yourself blown off again, otherwise I'll be the next one to knock you out."

The blonde chuckled. "I love you too, Pipes."

"Now that you're all here, we can continue this damned quest." Leo stated, coming from below to join them.

Percy smiled at them, finding his place by the rail. Frank and Hazel were in the mess hall, he saw them just recently, and for some reason, they haven't come out to the deck. At least, not yet.

Annabeth congratulated them for getting back alive and well, all the while staring at John. What type of outfit was that? The windsock was ridiculous.

In the midst of conversing and discussing, Hazel came out of the door, followed closely by Frank.

"Guys, we need to talk."

* * *

"What the hell is up with that game of yours?" Percy asked once the two had finished.

"it's not really a game, it creates universes!" John exclaimed, displaying a grand motion with his arms in a wide swing.

"And that's what I'm asking you, what the hell is up with that game of yours?"

"The point is" Hazel cut in, "that this mission is beyond the gods themselves, beyond the titans even."

"It's got to be Tartarus, I swear." Leo inputted.

"I second that." Percy added.

"It might be bigger." Hazel corrected, sighing as the growing number of members chattered over her.

Frank frowned and crossed his arms, worried for his teammates.

"guys!" John shouted above the rest, causing them to quiet down and focus on him. "jason, remember what medea's last words were?"

"Medea?" Piper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was something like 'chaos will reign'." He thought about it for a moment before it clicked. "Isn't there a being before Gaia and Tartarus named Chaos?"

The group let out a collective groan.

Leo took the liberty to crack a joke. "First Gaia, and now Chaos? Haven't we had enough of Primordial Beings for one lifetime?"

"There's no way we can beat Chaos itself." Calypso said, putting a hand to her forehead.

"We barely made it past Gaia…" Annabeth pondered. "And we're trying to defeat this entity that created her?"

A shiver shot through Dirk's spine, his heart pounded inside his chest. A faint echo rang in his ears as he shook his head to dispose of it. It only grew louder, from a noise in the distance to a soft lullaby. Almost.

"What are we going to do?" Frank asked, his hands tightened around his arms.

"im guessin theres no opposite of chaos" Roxy said with a distant voice. "no order"

Annabeth shook her head. "None that I know of. It there was, I doubt we would even be on this quest."

The lullaby became more and more defined, and it seemed like Dirk was the only one hearing it. "Hello little boy."

He flinched and nearly pulled out his katana, standing in a defensive stance only to realize there was no opponent. Roxy looked his way, clearly confused. Percy had noticed as well, deciding against saying anything about it.

"My my, you're quite interesting." it said. Rather than turning around to the source of the voice, Dirk's body retook its casual position, still tensed from the voice in his head. "Oh come on, don't be like that. It was funny."

He listened into the conversation, hearing bits and pieces that included the words: "we can't" and "let's try." There was no use. Not only was there a voice in his head, it prevented him from understanding the others around him. Those outside his mind.

Piper heard the door creak open and close, tilting her head to see Dirk was missing. Her thoughts wandered elsewhere, her gaze settled on the door. Sure, she hasn't known him for long, but she was positive he wouldn't leave a meeting about the fate of the world, no matter how dispiriting it was. She was going to ask about it later, once they finished their discussion and they were dismissed.

* * *

He felt stupid for doing so, and yet, he asked aloud anyway, "What do you want?"

"To think someone has a heart like yours."

"Cut the bullsh*t, what are you doing in my head." he inquired, louder this time. "You're Chaos, aren't you?"

"Wasn't that obvious? You can't beat me, and quite frankly, I don't think you want to."

Pain ran through his head, striking at an intensity that was sure to kill any normal human. Thankfully, he wasn't normal... But for a god tier, he was feeling pretty lowly.

Dirk grimaced, refusing to show any other sign of weakness. It was bad enough that his back was against a wooden post (for a false sense of support) and his legs failed him. He sat down on the floor with his head hidden.

"Sleeping throughout time was boring. It was nice to see new things though." it mused. "I didn't think my agent would be killed."

"Sucks for you." Dirk managed to cough out, hands still on his head. It felt like it was going to split in half.

"I'm sure you'd like to return to a perfect world, one where everything goes right." it taunted. "I can make you a deal-"

"F*ck no!"

"Do you understand the situation you're in? I could do this to all of you right now, you're in my territory, you know." the pull loosened and his body slacked. "It just wouldn't be fun."

"Then why me specifically?" he winced, his torn out mind raced through answers. Was a destroyer of souls really enough to bring down some master of chaos?

No answer. The humming from before was gone too. He let out a breath of relief, turning his head up to the evening sky. It was hard to remember when his version of Earth had a clear night sky, littered with shiny dots.

Piper came out from the lower floor, her eyes trained on her target. "Why did you leave?"

Dirk didn't even cast her a glance, he was only 110% done with what had just occurred. "No reason."

She stood beside him. "You think I'll believe that?"

"Not really."

"Then speak."

The silence was bothering her. The child of Aphrodite scoffed, sitting down on the opposite side of this new teammate of hers. "Why don't boys ever ask for help?"

He didn't answer, too busy trying to forget the whole incident with the Chaos. The others didn't need to know, it would tarnish any hope they had left in the mission being successful. Any hope they may have had in him.

A sweet voice intruded his thoughts, snapping his eyes open to the girl. "Tell me."

Two words made him want to say everything.

His mouth moved on its own accord, or rather, as per his control that wasn't his own. He was sure this was a trick she had up her sleeve, a skill that allowed seduction. Dirk picked it up just in time.

"I had a migraine, that's all." he said with a shrug, struggling to overcome the urge to say more. He was getting upset at this 'invading his mind' thing. Anyone else care to join? "What happened at the meeting?"

Piper could tell it wasn't the truth and that her plan didn't quite work. It pissed her off. No one's been able to resist her charm before. "Since you and your friends are 'god tiers', you're going to fight Chaos, all we mortals can do is help in any other way possible. With the help of some gods and goddesses, we might be able to pull this through."

She got up and brushed off the dirt, heading to her room below deck. Right before she disappeared through the door, she stopped. "You should speak out more, we're a team. If you can't trust us, what's to say you can be trusted?"

And with that, Dirk was once again left alone to himself. The lights below the ship managed to shine high enough into the sky, rivalling the brilliance of the stars. Sooner than later, they would be arriving at their destination, a place almost guaranteed to bring them their deaths.

And the rest of the crew were either asleep or contemplating their nonexistent normal future, a dream shattered upon the foundation of the dangers yet to come.


End file.
